USGS sea lamprey expert Nick Johnson demonstrates the ridge of tissue, called a rope, along the back of a mature
male sea lamprey.
Male sea lampreys are hot to trot — literally.
Not exact matches
Scientists with the USGS and Michigan State University, funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, found that slower
sea lamprey growth rates during the larval phase of development may increase the odds of
sea lampreys becoming
male.
During the study, environments lacking plentiful food were
male - skewed, with 78 percent of
sea lampreys becoming
male after three years, whereas environments more conducive to growth produced only 56 percent
males.
Unlike most animals,
sea lampreys, an invasive, parasitic species of fish damaging the Great Lakes, could become
male or female depending on how quickly they grow, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study.